[DeathsSilkyMist]

After doing some longer tests, I think I have some good news to report:

=========================================
Shaman 60 207 AC vs level 50 mob 800 hits
=========================================

DV, Count
32, 184
37, 21
43, 34
49, 35
54, 30
60, 33
66, 26
71, 23
77, 36
83, 30
88, 34
94, 39
100, 28
105, 27
111, 30
117, 26
122, 29
128, 34
134, 34
140, 67

Total Damage = 62544

=========================================
Shaman 60 217 AC vs level 50 mob 800 hits
=========================================

DV, Count
32, 188
37, 24
43, 32
49, 30
54, 24
60, 37
66, 29
71, 27
77, 28
83, 36
88, 37
94, 30
100, 23
105, 34
111, 41
117, 33
122, 27
128, 32
134, 28
140, 60

Total Damage = 62141

=========================================
Shaman 60 227 AC vs level 50 mob 800 hits
=========================================

DV, Count
32, 202
37, 27
43, 29
49, 33
54, 30
60, 20
66, 34
71, 26
77, 37
83, 25
88, 32
94, 31
100, 25
105, 31
111, 41
117, 31
122, 27
128, 31
134, 33
140, 55

Total Damage = 61208

=========================================
Shaman 60 300 AC vs level 50 mob 800 hits
=========================================

DV, Count
32, 209
37, 32
43, 33
49, 28
54, 33
60, 33
66, 37
71, 35
77, 27
83, 31
88, 33
94, 28
100, 33
105, 24
111, 37
117, 23
122, 21
128, 32
134, 23
140, 48

Total Damage = 58618

=========================================
Shaman 60 386 AC vs level 50 mob 800 hits
=========================================

DV, Count
32, 221
37, 29
43, 21
49, 30
54, 33
60, 34
66, 46
71, 28
77, 19
83, 27
88, 32
94, 31
100, 27
105, 23
111, 38
117, 36
122, 38
128, 26
134, 36
140, 25

Total Damage = 58631

On longer parses, we start to see a more consistent drop in damage as we increase AC. We also see an increase in Minimum hits, and a decrease in maximum hits.

It looks like the softcap is in effect well past 217 worn AC. The issue is simply that the softcap returns are quite small, which is expected for Shamans and Rangers.

My previous data sets with 400 hits per set were noisy enough to mask the subtle decrease in damage. I am thinking that is what happened in the Ranger thread as well. I don't think they were generally parsing around 1000 hits per AC value.

It is easy to see why people accused Haynar of having a hardcap on AC at high levels. He said he was running 3 hour parses to test his changes, and most people aren't gathering that much data per AC value.

This does show that AC has large diminishing returns past the softcap for at least some classes, which is why people don't feel like it does much. In the data above, going from 207 worn AC to 386 worn AC reduces damage by about 6.5%. It may be a bit higher if I ran even longer parses, as we see the 386 worn AC parse was basically identical to the 300 worn AC parse damage-wise. Considering that the 386 worn AC parse had like half of the max hits and 12 more min hits, that may just be unlucky RNG.

So far the data supports what Haynar's post said about hardcaps and softcaps.

Originally Posted by bcbrown [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Uploading some spreadsheets for three datasets: DSM level 5 vs level 5, my toons vs Shiel, DSM 60 shaman vs level 50. I find this is a more convenient format for looking at the data. Not a lot of conclusions yet from me. Min/max ratio seems noiser than damage/hit. Shield ac definitely has an effect.

Thanks for the spreadsheets! Just be aware that some items like orbs do not count as shields, so be sure to test with an actual shield.